Bandcamp Friday Recommendations: September 2021

Graphic by Andres Duarte

Bandcamp Fridays have returned! It's time to open your wallets and support the artists you love. Check out our recommendations of some of our current favorite Bandcamp releases, ranging from Latin house, crust punk, black metal, Afrofunk, and more.

A. Iwasa's Picks

Calculated - Heavens to Betsy
Genre: Alternative
A Sleater-Kinney predecessor band. I can’t overstate how cool I think it is to clearly hear the roots of one of the greatest bands making music now.
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▶︎ Calculated | Heavens To Betsy (bandcamp.com)

Health - Canadian Rifle
Genre: Garage punk
It was hard to pick a specific release by this prolific Chicago Punk outfit, as rad as they are live on recording, so I opted for something older, with cover art by ‘zinester Al Burian!  More melodic and rocking than the other hardcore acts from that town, but that’s what I like about them to a certain degree, they pull it off!
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▶︎ Health | Canadian Rifle (bandcamp.com)
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​H.A.L.T. - Golden Boots
Genre: Alt-country
If my memory serves me correctly, this band played a musically stripped down show around the time this album came out, so the electronic effects were a bit to get used to when I found them on the Bandcamp but once I got used to it, I liked it fine.
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▶︎ H.A.L.T. | Golden BooTs (bandcamp.com)
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Demo - Rise Like Lions
Genre: Anarcho-punk
Raw, pure hardcore.  It’s a shame this band is long gone!  At least we have the recordings.
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▶︎ Demo | Rise Like Lions (bandcamp.com)

​Plague Year - Requiem
Genre: Crust punk
Epic O’odham rockers deliver an aptly titled album for 2021, judging by their past material, they probably saw this coming…
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▶︎ Plague Year | Requiem (bandcamp.com)
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​Temporary Heaven - Introflirt
Genre: Croonwave
A synth pop duo that lost both of its members in the Ghostship fire.
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▶︎ Introflirt (bandcamp.com)

Noe's Picks

Not An Album - Badiou
Genre: Electronic, Tech House, Break, Juke, Techno
Fantastic set of tracks. The melodies are awesome and will stick with you, while being carried by beats that go really hard.
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https://angelplaysmusic.bandcamp.com/album/not-an-album
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Two Reflections In Parallel - Yyed
Genre: Electronic, Experimental, Ambient, Field Recordings, Glitch, Sound Collage, Tactile
I can taste and feel this music. Its crunchy, bitter and sour with a smooth aftertaste. An exquisite offering from an expert noise chef. 

​https://abysscdr.bandcamp.com/album/two-reflections-in-parallel
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The Gospel of the Devourer - madam data
Genre: Black Metal, Noise, Drone, Sci Fi
​A noise and drone epic that re-appropriates the sacrosanct and esoteric aesthetic often present in black metal done by bigots. If you buy, your money will go directly to black trans ppl. Join and chant the gospel of the devourer! 

​https://purpletapepedigree.bandcamp.com/album/the-gospel-of-the-devourer
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Tetzahuitl - DJ Fucci
Genre: Electronic, Breaks, Electro, Juke, Latin Bass, Left Field

Music inspired by prehispanic México. Not only are these great dancing rhythms, they are also songs filled with spiritual beauty that we have sadly lost.
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https://wvwv.bandcamp.com/album/tetzahuitl
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Riddled With Absence - Dalibor Cruz
Genre: Drone, Electronic, Folk, House, Noise, Punta
Glitchy, bleak, angst infused beats that penetrate the soul. The Punta influence results in fantastic drum rhythms that are conductive to frantic booty shaking
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https://naturalsciences.bandcamp.com/album/riddled-with-absence
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Oxygen Tank EP - Amazinggaijin
Genre: Club, Experimental, Techno, Ambient
Straight up COVID-19 pandemic music. Isolation and chaos while the world keeps on trucking and destroying itself. 
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https://allcentre.bandcamp.com/album/oxygen-tank-ep
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Parisa's Picks

​Cameroon Garage Funk - Various Artists
Genre: Garage, Funk, African music
A brand new compilation from Analog Africa celebrating the vibrant and invigorating garage scene in 1970s Cameroon. All of these tracks were recorded secretly by an engineer who paid off priests to let him use the church as a recording studio. It was risky business, so finally being able to hear these tracks on their first ever international release makes it that much more special of a listen.

https://analogafrica.bandcamp.com/album/cameroon-garage-funk
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​Under the Lilac Sky - Arushi Jain
Genre: Indian classical, modular ambient
Modular synthesist, vocalist, and engineer Arushi Jain reinterprets Indian classical music through a lens of electronic instrumentation. The result is a breathtaking ambient collection that will tug at the core of your heart. As Arushi states in the liner notes: “You know that moment when the sun is bidding farewell to the sky, and the colors turn into beautiful hues of purple and pink and everything in between? That is the moment that this album will shine the most. The deeper you listen, the more shades you’ll see.”

https://elmundozazou.bandcamp.com/releases
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Ngủ Ngày Ngay Ngày Tận Thế - Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective
Genre: Experimental, ambient
A brilliant new release from an experimental collective in Ho Chi Mihn City, exploring ambient textures and noise collages that delve deep into the cultural traditions of Vietnam. If you dig the album, check out this great radio show interview with them on Observations of Deviance.

https://rancapduoi.bandcamp.com/album/ng-ng-y-ngay-ng-y-t-n-th
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Sky Girl: Compiled by Julien Dechery and DJ Sundae - Various Artists
Genre: Art pop, minimal wave

As stated in the liner notes, this compilation is “a deeply melancholic and sentimental journey through folk-pop, new wave and art music micro presses that span 1961-1991.” I know I’ve already used the word breathtaking for another album on this list *cue Elaine Benes reaction*, but I mean -- wow. It’s so heavily nostalgic it makes you heart hurt.

​https://efficientspace.bandcamp.com/album/sky-girl-compiled-by-julien-dechery-and-dj-sundae
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merdeka atau mati - SpermChurch
Genre: Experimental electronica, improvisation

A collaboration between Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas) and Sannety, a Dutch-Indonesian electronic musician who created her own software instruments to explore polyrhythms in completely unique parameters (who unfortunately passed away last year). The release “battles cultural conditioning with non-traditional tunings, glissandos, percussion, a max/msp patch” and somehow makes grindcore and footwork seem like the same genre.

https://spermchurch.bandcamp.com/album/merdeka-atau-mati
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​Hymns of a Forlorn Peastry - Hulder
Genre: Black metal
One woman Finnish black metal that brings elements of fantasy and folklore to the forefront. One of my favorite releases of the year, and stay tuned for my interview with her coming up next week!

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/hulder-godslastering-hymns-of-a-forlorn-peasantry